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SPAIN: ADIF has awarded two contracts worth a total of €5892m for the construction of a new station at La Sagrera in Barcelona, located on the high speed line to the French border. Also served by regional and suburban trains and with parking space for 2500 cars, it is expected that the new facility will be used by up to 100 million passengers a year.

SOUTH AFRICA: Test running has started in earnest on the 20 km first phase of the Gautrain line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. Opening has been set for June 8, subject to a final technical 'go/no-go' decision in April. The original timescale would have seen the Bombela consortium complete Phase 1 by June 27. However, after the project began South Africa was selected to host the FIFA World Cup, and the provincial government was keen to see the opening brought forward so that the line could handle some of the football traffic. The cost of accelerating the work was initially too high for the government, but agreement has been reached to launch a reduced-scope service at no extra cost. Phase 2 is scheduled for completion in 2011. Extending the line north from Sandton to Pretoria and Hatfield and south to Park station in Johannesburg, this will take Gautrain to 80 route-km.

BELGIUM: Flemish transport operator De Lijn has placed a €32m order for an additional 13 HermeLijn low-floor light rail vehicles, Siemens Mobility announced on January 19. The latest batch of metre-gauge cars will be delivered between October 2011 and April 2012, following from 112 cars of the type supplied between 1999 and 2007. They will be used to increase capacity in Antwerpen, and during the summer months will strengthen services on the coastal tram route.

SAUDI ARABIA: Scott Wilson Group has been appointed to provide project management support for the Haramain High Speed Rail Project, the international design and engineering consultancy announced on January 5.

UAE: Design is a key element of many projects in Dubai, not least the Al Sufouh tramway for which a mock-up car has been unveiled. The diamond-shaped front ends of the 11 Alstom Citadis 402 trams for Phase I will be dark in colour, providing a contrast to the bright interiors. Inside there will be three seat colours to distinguish the Gold, Silver and Women & Children classes; the Gold class will be furnished with leather seats. The tram has been designed to operate in extreme climatic conditions, with powerful air-conditioning to handle temperatures reaching 55°C, humidity rates up to 100% and the sandy, corrosive atmosphere. The tramway will have Alstom's APS II wireless ground level power supply system, and operations will be managed using a modified version of the company's Urbalis communications-based train control. All stops will have platform screen doors, with automatic control of the vehicles to ensure accurate stopping and synchronisation between the tram and platform doors.

EUROPE: The European Commission announced the first projects which are to receive a total of €500m of infrastructure grants under the Trans-European Transport Network programme on October 21. The TEN-T programme aims to build missing transport links in Europe and remove bottlenecks.

SPAIN: Investment in new rolling stock as well as the infrastructure of the national network is set to total €10·2bn next year, according to the Ministry of Development's draft budget.

WHEELSETS: Procurement managers must continue to look beyond initial capital cost when making purchasing decisions, despite the pressures of the global recession.

CANADA: On August 14 the city of Montréal released a study into proposals for a new tram line which had been commissioned from a consortium of Genivar and Systra.

SPAIN: Tenders are to be called in the last quarter of this year for the construction of a gauge-changing facility at Brazatortas-Veredas, enabling trains from Mérida and Badajoz to use the high speed line from Córdoba to reach Madrid.

USA: Chicago Transit Authority board adopted locally preferred alternatives for three proposed ‘L’ extensions on August 3, a critical step in applying for federal funding.

Line 3 between Liège and the German border was inaugurated on June 12, completing the last link in the star-shaped national high speed network and making Belgium the first European country to have a network of high speed lines linking its borders. Line 3 became available to operators from June 14. At present it is only used by DB's ICE3 trains, but Thalys is expected to begin running over the route by the end of this year, cutting Liège - Köln journey times from 1 h 23 min to 1 h 1 min. From Chênée near Liège trains run at 200 km/h through the Soumagne Tunnel, the longest double-track tunnel in Belgium at 6·5 km. Trains then run at 260 km/h parallel to the E40 motorway to Walhorn, where Line 3 ends as it leaves a 1·1 km cut-and-cover tunnel to rejoin the upgraded conventional line to the border. The TUC RAIL subsidiary of infrastructure manager Infrabel built the 36 km line in 2001-07 at a cost of €830m, including ETCS Level 2 signalling and train control. Tracks and electrification were certified in October 2007, followed by signal and safety testing, but the launch of services had to wait until sufficient suitable trains were fitted with ERTMS on-board equipment.

The Euronoise conference will be held between 26-26 October 2009 in Edinburgh, UK.

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) has just announced that the theme of its next World Congress and Exhibition will be ‘Public transport: Making the right mobility choices’. In the current context of climate change, congestion, traffic paralysis, air quality concerns and the energy debate, it is beyond doubt that all cities need a good public transport network.

PARIS Transport Authority (RATP) has selected a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier to supply 60 double-deck MI09 trains for RER Line A

METRO Madrid has awarded CAF, Spain, a contract to supply and maintain 60 trains under a 17-year leasing agreement. CAF says the contract is worth Euros 200 million, around half the cost of purchasing the trains outright. Twenty-seven six-car trains will be built for Line 6, which is currently being modernised, while the remaining 140 vehicles are destined for Lines 2, 9, and 11, which are being extended, and Lines 8 and 10 where additional capacity is required. The lease is being financed by the Community of Madrid (52%) and the city council (48%). The first trains will be delivered in 2010.